Disk wheel and process of producing the same



Aug. 11, 1936. M. WINKLER 0,

msx WHEEL AND PROCESS OF PRODUCING THE SAME Filed Aug. 5, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F I 4 [five/Mon:

"PM. \AnnRIeW M. .WINKLER Aug. 11, 1936.

DISK WHEEL AND PROCESS OF FRODUCING THE SAME 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 5, 1952 Fig. 3

I v /n ventar: 4'77 WI V'iRI W Patented Aug. 11, 1936 UNITED STATES DISK .WHEEL AND PROCESS OF PRODUCING THE SAME Moritz Winkier, Bochum, Germany, assignor to the firm Vereinigte Stahlwerke Aktiengeselischaft, Dusseldorf, Germany Application August 5, 1932, Serial No. 627,668

In Germany March 10, 1932 6 Claims.

Hitherto, disk wheels having a corrugated or similarly shaped part between the hub and the rim, which has been pressedin alternate axial directions i. e. in concentric section out of a central position, have usually been made of cast steel, that is to say, they were cast in their final shape. However, as generally in such wheels forgings give better results than castings, on account of better working, the practice was gradually adopted of making disk wheels of this shape of steel by pressing or forging into their final shape pieces which had been prepared by rolling.

This process can be employed without difllculty 15, in those cases in which the part of the disk which is between the hub and the rim has only to be pressed or forged by dies in aliqrnate axial directions while the junctions of the hub and the rim to the disk shaped part are not moved from the position in which they were rolled in the preliminary stage.

Disk wheels are also known in which the axial corrugations extend to the junction of the disk to the hub. Here, the process of manufacture has been such that-seen in the cross section-the junctions to the straight line at the hub .or the rim have not been displaced by the corrugation.

All these cases relate to wheels in which the purpose of the corrugation of the disk, and in 30 some cases-the junction to the hub, is to ensure the greatest possible strength and rigidity.

In distinction to this, the present invention relates to a disk wheel and a process for producing the same in which the disk portion of the wheel is joined to a projecting part at the hub and at the rim, and which is corrugated in concentric section in alternate axial directions and in which great rigidity is to be avoided, maximum resilience being desired. The shaping of the 40 wheels during the corrugatlng is effected in such a way that the disk acts as though it were a plate spring, while the hub and the rim act as ringshaped springs. Hitherto such wheels could be produced only 45 by casting and their production by die pressing was not possible on account of the, great difllciilties which arise from the fact that, while it is necessary for the purpose of obtaining resilience to avoid accumulation of material, the material 50 to be worked is subjected to extraordinarily high stresses while it is being pressed. I

According to the present invention these dimculties are overcome by producing the desired corrugations in a pressing operation in which -a drawing eflect arises by which the junction of the disk to the rim or to the rim and the hub is alternately displaced in both directions so as to form an elastic ring portion of relatively small thickness at the rim. The invention comprises a, process in which at first a metal piece 5 is rolled into a preliminary blank comprising a level disk portion, a hub and a rim, said blank possessing already approximately the extensions desired for the final product and especially a relatively low thickness. Thereupon said blank is 0 subjected to a pressing operation in which the rim is embraced by die sections which are conically shaped at the surface engaging the rim at their outer surface and which are cylindrically shaped at the inner surface of the rim.

The additional material required for the corrugations is provided at suitable portions of the disk blank. For example, it maybe provided where the disk is joined to the rim. This junction is therefore rolled with large radii of curvature which, during the pressing and displacement of the junction in both axial directions, become smaller radii. Thisprovision has the result that when the junction to the rim is displaced in the pressing operation, the material only changes its shape, excess stress of the material and their rupture at these places being eliminated.

The said additional material which must be provided for the relative displacement at the junction of the disk to the rim, can also be arranged in the rim itself, for example by rolling the rim wider than it will be when the wheel has been pressed. During the pressing operation of the wheel the rim will then be compressed and concavities in the lateral surfaces of the rim due to the relative displacement of the junctionare thus avoided. In this respect the, rim can be' rolled on its outer face either plane or bi-conical, in the latter case'the addition of material in the width of the rim can be less than in other cases. 40

The present invention further comprises the operation where the radius of the junction is subjected during the pressing to the greatest reduction at the particular side towards which it is being displaced, while the radius on the opposite side thereof need be reduced only to a negligible extent during the pressing operation. By pressing the wheel between die portions of the shape already described a drawing effect is produced which acts upon the junction of the disk to the rim or to the rim and the hub respectively and moves it together with its root outwardly along the rim so that it passes into the rim almost at the margin. In consequence thereof the rim is unsupported over the remaining part of its width and forms a freely bearing ring portion. By making it of a high grade material of a suflicient strength said ring portion can be constructed as a very resilient body of a small height.

For the purpose of using as little pressure as possible at the junctions of the disk during pressing, it is preferable to shape the rolled raw discs in such a way that that part which extends towardsthe rim with a large radius does not connect with the rim tangentially but at an angle. During the corrugating of the disks by pressing great radial forces are produced which tend to distort the rim outwards. In order to eliminate such distortion, the opposite halves of the die are according to the present invention so shaped that they close over the rim, that is to say they extend over the cylindrical outer face of the rim during the pressing with an obtuse surface on each side, the bases of which are on the parting seam of the two halves of the die. In this way the additional material can be arranged most advantageously.

The finished pressings can be ejected from the die by any already known device. This ejection can be facilitated by rolling a ridge on the cylindrical outer face of the rim during the preliminary rolling;- this bulge would fit into the parting seam of the dies during the pressing, so that a crowbar or similar tool can'be easily introduced between this ridge and the upper edge of the lower die.

The disk wheel produced is particularly suited for vehicles travelling on rails, and for motor and other vehicles, but it can be used equally well in all cases in which a similarly shaped revolving body is given an axial displacement in concentric section in alternate directions of the junction of the disk-shaped part of the rotating body to either the hub or the rim.

Furthermore the new product and process are not limited to the use and production of similarly shaped rotating bodies but extend also to rotating bodies in which the connecting part of the spokes with the rim is alternately displaced to one and the other side of the central position.

Two forms of application of the present invention are illustrated by way of an example in the attached drawings.

The dotted lines in Fig. 1 show the shape of the rolled disk blank I. The disk-shaped part meets the rim in large radii of curvature RI and R2, the connection or junction with the rim at 2 and 3 being nottangential but at an angle.

By means of a suitably shaped upper die I and lower die 5, the previously roiled disk I is corrugated in an axial direction in such a way that a concentric section through the disk-shaped part on the line 11-11 gives the-drawing shown in Fig. 2. In this corrugating process the disk- .shaped part is pressed out of its original shape in both directions, as shown at 6 and 1 of Fig. 1.

In addition to this alternate displacement of the disk-shaped part, the enlarged parts or junctions of the disk at the hub and at the rim are to the hub or the rim. In this way the larger radii Bi and R2 of the evenly rolled disk blank are changed into smaller radii H and 12, or 1-3 and M. The drawings show clearly that the reductionof the radii is always greater on the side towards which the protruding part is pressed (r2 and r3).

IntheformshowninFigs.3 and4, therimis rolled to a certain extent wider, for ex p e radii of curvature of said junction. displaced to one side or to the other in relation 10-15% wider, than it will be on the finished pressed wheel. The hollows or rounded ofi passages of the disk to the rim need not then be rolled greater. For the relative displacement of the junction of the disk to the rim additional 5 material is required as above mentioned, which. if the hollows or rounded off passages are not rolled larger, would be drawn from the width of the rim, as shown in Fig. 4 in dotted lines. If the rim is rolled wider than it is compressed during the pressing operation of the wheel and the concave parts I i resulting from the drawing away of the material are made even again.

The upper die 4 and the lower die 5, with their 'ring-shaped projections 8 and 9, form a closed 1 die, so that there can be no axial or radial displacement of the rim during pressing. The insides of the projections 8 and I are cone-shaped, so that the work piece will fit more easily into the dies and can be taken out of the dies with 2 greater facility.

In.order to facilitate further the removal of the pressed disks from the dies, a circular ridge I0 is rolled on to the level surfaced disk blank.

The present invention is not limited to the rela- 25 tive displacement'of the connection or junction of the disk with the rim, but applies also to the same treatment of the connection of the disk with the hub.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters 30 Patent is:-

l. A process for the production of corrugated disk wheels comprising rolling a metal piece into a preliminary blank comprising a level disk like portion, a hub and a rim, said blank possessing already approximately the extensions desired for the final product and especially a relatively small thickness and subjecting said blank to a pressing operation in which the rim is embraced by die sections which are conlcally shaped at the surface engaging the outer surface of the rim and which are cylindrically shaped at the inner surface of the rim, thereby subjecting the junction of the disk to the rim to a drawing effect by which said junction is alternately displaced along the rim in both directions and an elastic ring portion is produced at the rim.

2. A process for the production of corrugated disk wheels comprising rolling a metal piece into a preliminary blank comprising a level disk like portion, a hub and a rim, said blank possessing already approximately the extensions desired for the final product and especially a relatively small thickness and subjecting said blank to a pressing operation in which the rim is embraced by die sections which are conically shaped at the surface engaging the outer surface of the rim and which are cylindrically shaped at the inner surface of the rim, thereby subjecting the junction of the disk to the rim to a drawing effect by which 60 said junction is alternately displaced along the rim in both directions and an elastic ring portion is produced at the rim, the working material required for said displacement being taken from the 3. A process for the production of corrugated disk wheels comprising rolling a metal piece into a preliminary blank comprising a level disk like portion, a hub and a rim, said blank already approximately the extensions desired for the final product and especially a relatively small thickness and subjecting said blank to a pressing operation in which the rim isembraced by die sections which are sonically shaped at the surface engaging the outer surface of the rim and which are cylindricaily shaped at the inner surface of the rim, thereby subjecting the junction of the disk to the rim to a drawing eifect by which said junction is alternately displaced along the rim in both directions and an elastic ring portion is produced at the rim, the working material required for sari-:ldisplacement being provided by reducing the width of the rim.

4. A process for the. production of corrugated .disk wheels comprising rolling a metal piece into a preliminary blank comprising a level disk like portion, a hub and a rim, said blank possessing already approximately the extensions desired for the final product and especially a relatively small thickness and subjecting said blank to a pressing operation in which the rim is embraced by die sections which are conically shaped at the surface engaging the outer surface of the rim and which are cylindrically shaped at the inner surface of the rim, thereby subjecting the junction of the disk to the rim to a drawing effect by which said junction is alternately displaced along the rim in both directions and an elastic ring portion is produced at the rim, the working material required for-said displacement being provided from the said junction.

5. A disk wheel comprising a hub, a disk like portion and a rim, the disk like portion of which is provided with radial extending corrugations and also together with its junction to the rim with circularly extending corrugations.

6. A disk ,wheei comprising a hub, a disk like portion and a rim, the disk like portion of which is provided with radial extending corrugations and also together with its junctions to the hub and to the rim with circularly extending corrugations.

MORITZ WINKLER. 

